Originally Published: July 26, 2023
UMÓⁿHOⁿ Nation students partner with JAG to build thriving community garden
MACY, Neb (KMTV) — Just down the street from Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation’s Public School in Macy is a plot of land that grows just about every kind of produce you can think of.
It’s an impressive display that just a few years ago was only an idea.
“Our students sat and talked about the strengths of the community and the opportunities of the community. We did a needs assessment,” said Ricardo Ariza, a JAG career specialist with Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation’s Public Schools.
The students wanted to pursue a project that wouldn’t just help their career prospects, but also give back to the community they cherish.
“We historically as a people have high obesity, high diabtetes, high cancer rate. We can build all the educational facilities we want but the cure is right here for all those things,” said Richard Valentino with Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation Public Schools.
In the years since the project has been launched the community gardens have grown to encompass 11,000 square feet of food plots and pollinator habitats.
“My favorite thing to do is water, the way I like to think of watering is feeding the plants,” said Garyn Lasley, a 10th grader who is a part of Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation Public School’s JAG program.
The food is all planted, cared for, and harvested by students, using the techniques that their ancestors have handed down for generations.
Techniques like growing the Three Sisters; corn, squash and beans together.
“They would plant the corn and wait for it to get four to five inches, and then they would plant sister bean next to it and she would climb using the corn to climb. Then sister squash did the ground cover to keep the weeds down. So our people had it down to where they only had to weed their garden twice a year,” said Suzi French, the director of the community garden.
The students aren’t just learning skills in the field, the JAG program is giving them everything they need to pursue a career after they graduate and it couldn’t happen without a multi organizational partnership and the support of Umoⁿhoⁿ Nation Public School’s superintendent Stacie Hardy.
“The JAG program is the perfect example of a workforce development program. We are honored at United Way of the Midlands to run the JAG Nebraska program in partnership with the Nebraska Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, Governor Pillen and the state, then all of our school partners preparing students to enter the workforce,” said Matt Wallen with United Way of the Midlands.
Even spending just a few minutes with the JAG students and their instructors you can feel the heart and soul that goes into the community garden.
“I don’t have any words for it. I am Inka’sabe, that’s my clan from my tribe. Our role before we were colonized was to make sure all of our people were fed. So I am doing what I am supposed to be doing,” said French.
The students involved with the community garden are preparing for their 219th Hedawachi, or harvest festival, coming up in August.
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